Petroleum Minister to launch SATAT initiative to promote compressed

Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan will launch the Sustainable Alternative towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative on the penultimate day of the ongoing Swachhta Hi Seva campaign. The Minister will launch the initiative with the PSU Oil Marketing Companies, inviting Expression of Interest (EoI) from potential entrepreneurs to set up Compressed Bio-Gas (CBG) production plants and make available the biogas in the market for use in automotive fuels.

Objective

The SATAT, the initiative is aimed at providing a Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) as a developmental effort that would benefit both vehicle-users as well as farmers and entrepreneurs.

Key Benefits of the SATAT Initiative

The move has the potential to boost the availability of more affordable transport fuels, better use of agricultural residue, cattle dung and municipal solid waste, as well as to provide an additional revenue source to farmers.

It is expected to pave the way for efficient municipal solid waste management and help in tackling the problem of polluted urban air due to farm stubble-burning and carbon emissions.

It will also help achieve the nation’s climate change goals and bring down the dependency on natural gas and crude oil imports and act as a buffer against crude oil and gas price fluctuations

The Compressed Bio-Gas networks can be integrated with city gas distribution (CGD) networks to boost supplies to domestic and retail users in existing and upcoming markets.

Background

The Compressed Bio-Gas is exactly similar to the commercially available natural gas (CNG) in its composition and energy potential. Hence, it can be used as an alternative, renewable automotive fuel.

The Biofuels, set up under the National Policy on Biofuels 2018, is in the process of finalizing a pan-India pricing model for Compressed Bio-Gas.

The potential for Compressed Bio-Gas production from various sources in India is estimated at about 62 million tonnes per annum

The National Policy on Biofuels 2018 emphasizes the active promotion of advanced biofuels, including CBG.

The Government of India had launched the GOBAR-DHAN (Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources) scheme earlier this year to convert cattle dung and solid waste in farms to CBG and compost.